Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s poems translated into German

Islamabad, May 27 (IANS) Works of noted subcontinental Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz, globally recognised as one who believed in social reform and devoted his poetry to the uplift of humanity, has now been translated into German.

A bilingual Urdu-German book of Faiz’s poems has been launched by the Goethe Institut in Karachi, Dawn News reported.

The poems titled “Jab teri samandar ankhon mein” have been translated into German by the institute’s former director Markus Litz and head of its language department, Shamim Manzar.

Faiz (Feb 13, 1911 - Nov 20, 1984) was a left-wing intellectual, revolutionary poet, and one of the most famous poets of the Urdu language from the British India era.

Faiz’s early poetry had conventional themes of love and beauty and his later works focussed on a broad canvas of humanity.

Faiz’s daughter Salima Hashmi said that to mark Faiz’s centenary last year, her family has set up a museum, Faiz Ghar, which has his books, letters, certificates, medals and other articles.

Letters written by Faiz to his wife Alys, when he was in the Sahiwal jail, have been published in a book titled “Two Loves”.

Goethe Institut Director Mauel Negwer said Faiz was a renowned poet, but Pakistani literature was not very well-known in Germany. But this book would be helpful for Germans who were interested in Pakistani literature, the Daily Times reported.

Faiz was an avowed Marxist-communist and a recipient of the Lenin Peace Prize from the erstwhile Soviet Union in 1962. He was also nominated for the Nobel Prize shortly before his death in 1984.

In 1990, Faiz was posthumously honoured with Pakistan’s highest civilian award, the Nishan-e-Imtiaz.

The Pakistan government declared the year 2011 as the year of Faiz Ahmed Faiz. The government set up a “Faiz Chair” at the Department of Urdu at the Karachi University and at the Sindh University.